Our Story
Campus Outreach Johannesburg (COJ) was originally founded in Gauteng in 2002 by a team of 24 American missionaries sent out from Christ Covenant Church (CCC) in Charlotte, North Carolina. This team worked alongside several local South African churches to launch a Christian, interdenominational university ministry across different campuses in Gauteng.
In 2012, COJ entered into a formal process to transition the oversight and authority of the ministry from CCC to Central Baptist Church (CBC) in Pretoria. Subsequently, the ministry was renamed Campus Outreach Gauteng (COG). From 2012 to 2019, Campus Outreach Gauteng operated under the joint authority and oversight of CCC and CBC, with CBC serving as the local hub-church partner.
In 2020, after a long-term agreement between CCC and CBC could not be reached, CCC engaged with several other local South African churches. Together, they sought a sustainable, locally governed model—one that would allow Campus Outreach to continue building labourers on campus for the lost world under the direct authority and oversight of a local South African church.
This process led to the formation of the non-profit company, Campus Outreach South Africa (COSA), in March 2021. COSA is a ministry governed by a board of local South African churches (Bryanston Bible Church, Rosebank Union Church, and Red Door Church) partnering together to build university campus movements under local church authority in Gauteng and beyond.
Currently, COSA has a team of 20 staff members- 16 local South Africans and 4 American missionaries - with an active ministry presence across the University of Johannesburg, University of Pretoria, and The University of Witwatersrand campuses.
